Genetic Analysis of the Role of ARP2/3 Complex in border cell migration in Drosophila Melanogaster

Abstract

During oogenesis of Drosophila, one group of cells called border cells delaminate from the anterior epithelium and migrate to the oocyte in a stereotypic way. Border cells provide a good system to study cell migration in vivo due to their genetic tractability. arc-p34 was isolated from a border cell mutant clone screen due to its strong effect on border cell migration. arc-p34 encodes the Drosophila homolog of mammalian ARPC2, a component of Arp2/3 complex. When the level of various Arp2/3 components is reduced by RNAi, many border cell clusters fail to initiate the migration. If they initiate migration, these border cell clusters move much slower at first, but migrate normally later, suggesting distinct mechanisms differentially depend on Arp2/3. Single cell tracking shows that Arp2/3-impaired border cells are still motile, but show less directional movement. Thus Arp2/3 may be acting upstream or downstream of guidance cues to steer border cell migration.